Nineveh Governorate

Nineveh Governorate

محافظة نينوى (in Arabic) ܗܘܦܲܪܟܝܵܐ ܕܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ (in Syriac)
Nineveh Governorate محافظة نينوى (in Arabic) ܗܘܦܲܪܟܝܵܐ ܕܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ (in Syriac)
governorate
	Coordinates: 36°0′N 42°28′E / 36.000°N 42.467°E
Country	Iraq
Capital	Mosul
Government
• Governor	Mansour al-Mareed (al-Nahetha)
Area
• Total	37,323 km2 (14,410 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	3,270,422
• Density	88/km2 (230/sq mi)
HDI (2017)	0.664; medium

Nineveh Governorate (Arabic: محافظة نينوى) (Syriac: ܗܘܦܲܪܟܝܵܐ ܕܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ) is a governorate in northern Iraq that contains the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh. It was an integral part of Assyria from the 25th century BC to the 7th century AD. It has an area of 37,323 km² (14,410 sq mi) and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people in 2003. Its chief city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of ancient Nineveh. Tal Afar is the second-biggest city. Before 1976, it was called Mosul Province and included the present-day Dohuk Governorate, which is now part of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan. ^{[citation needed]}

An ethnically, religiously and culturally diverse region, it has been subject to attacks by the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, with Mosul being captured on 10 June 2014, and many places of worship and historic ruins and monuments destroyed.^[3] A massive offensive to retake the city, dubbed Operation "We Are Coming, Nineveh" (قادمون يا نينوى; Qadimun Ya Naynawa), began in October 2016.^[4]^[5]

Recent history and administration

Its two cities endured the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and emerged unscathed. In 2004, however, Mosul and Tal Afar were the scenes of fierce battles between US-led troops and Iraqi insurgents. The insurgents moved to Nineveh after the Battle of Fallujah in 2004.

After the invasion, the military of the province was led by (then Major General) David Petraeus of the 101st Airborne Division and later by (then Brigadier General) Carter Ham as the multi-national brigade for Iraq. During the time, the American civil head of the local office of the Coalition Provisional Authority was a US Foreign Service Officer and former Kurdish refugee to the States. Mustafa administered her nominees on the provincial council and through members of the Kashmoula family.

In June 2004, Osama Kashmoula became the interim governor of the province and in September of the same year he was assassinated en route to Baghdad. He was succeeded as interim Governor by Duraid Kashmoula, who was elected governor in January 2005. Duraid Kashmoula resigned in 2009.^[6] In April 2009, Atheel al-Nujaifi, a hardline Arab nationalist and member of Al-Hadba, became governor.^[7] While al-Nujaifi's Arab Muttahidoon bloc lost its majority to the Kurdish Brotherhood and Coexistence Alliance List in the 2013 provincial election, al-Nujaifi was reelected as governor by a larger Sunni Arab coalition^[8] that was later formalized as the Nahda Bloc.

In June 2014, insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (known as ISIS or ISIL) overran the capital Mosul, forcing an estimated 500,000 refugees to flee the area,^[9] including governor al-Nujaifi,^[10] who was subsequently deposed by the Iraqi Parliament.^[11]

While the Kurdish list proposed Hassan al-Allaf, an Arab affiliated with the Islamic Party,^[12] the provincial council elected Nofal Hammadi (formerly Loyalty to Nineveh List) with the votes of the Nahdha bloc.^[13]

An offensive to retake Mosul from ISIL control began in October 2016, with Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers supported by a U.S.-led coalition of 60 nations.^[5]

Provincial elections

Template:Ninawa governorate election, 2013

Human geography

Borders

Neighboring Iraqi regions are Dohuk Governorate to the north, Erbil Governorate to the east, Saladin Governorate to the south-east, and Al Anbar Governorate to the south. In the west it shares a border with Syria, mostly Al-Hasakah Governorate, and also Deir ez-Zor Governorate in the south.

Administrative districts

Nineveh Governorate comprises 30 districts, listed below with their areas^[14] and populations as estimated in 2003:^[15]

District	Name in Arabic	Area in sq. km	Population in 2003
Sinjar	سنجار	2,928	166,466
Al-Ba'aj	البعاج	9,172	88,401
Al-Hadar (Hatra)	الحضر	9,738	37,655
Al-Mosul	الموصل	4,471	1,432,230
Tel Afar	تلعفر	4,453	300,878
Tel Kaif	تلكيف	1,244	167,647
Al-Hamdaniya	الحمدانية	1,155	125,665
Al-Shikhan	الشيخان	1,333	58,132
Total		37,323	2,453,116

Makhmur District, Aqrah District and the northern part of Al-Shikhan District were formerly part of Nineveh Governorate and currently under the Kurdistan Regional Government control, as Mosul has no control over these districts.^{[citation needed]}. Now Makhmur District is part of Erbil Governorate. Aqrah District and the northern part of Al-Shikhan District are parts of Dohuk Governorate.

Demographics

Nineveh Province is multiethnic. There are significant numbers of Arabs, Turkmens, Assyrians, Kurds as well as Yazidis both in towns and cities, and in their own specific villages and regions. There are also numbers of Armenians, Kawliya, Mandeans and Shabaks.

In religion, the majority are Sunni Muslim. 80% of Arabs are Sunni Muslim, the majority of Turkmens are Sunni Muslim, Kurds are mostly Sunni Muslim, and about 5–10% of the population is Christian and mostly followers of Yazidis, Shabaks and Mandeans follow their own religious beliefs: Yazidism, Shabakism, and Mandaeism.

The main language spoken is Arabic. Minority languages include Turkman, Neo-Aramaic dialects spoken by the Assyrian People, Kurdish (predominately Kurmanji), Shabaki, and Armenian.

Proposed Assyrian autonomous region

Many Assyrian leaders advocate an autonomous Assyrian homeland within Nineveh Province for the indigenous Assyrians.^[16] Most National Iraqi leaders have not taken this plan seriously.

Notes and references

^ Citypopulation.de
^ "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
^ al-Lami, Mina (21 July 2014). "Iraq: the minorities of Nineveh Plain". BBC World News. Archived from the original on 24 July 2014.
^ "العبادي يطلق على عمليات تحرير نينوى تسمية "قادمون يا نينوى" أمن". Al Sumaria. 17 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ ^a ^b Winter, Charlie (20 October 2016). "How ISIS Is Spinning the Mosul Battle". The Atlantic. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ Parker, Ned (22 January 2009). "Iraq governor looks back on troubled tenure". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012.
^ Sly, Liz (23 June 2009). "In Nineveh, tensions between Iraqi Kurds and Arabs simmer". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012.
^ Abdullah Salem (22 August 2013). "Voter's Revolution in Ninawa – Local minorities take over Provincial government". Niqash. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015.
^ Robertson, Nic; Smith-Spark, Laura (11 June 2014). "Fresh off Mosul victory, militants in Iraq wrest control of Tikrit". CNN. Archived from the original on 12 June 2014. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
^ "Iraqi insurgents 'seize new city'". BBC News. 11 June 2014. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014.
^ Hamza Mustafa (29 May 2015). "Iraq: Nineveh governor sacked following ISIS advances". Asharq al-Awsat. Archived from the original on 11 February 2016.
^ "Member of Nineveh's Council: Two Candidates For The Post Of The Governor And Negotiations To Select One Of Them". NINA. 21 June 2015. Archived from the original on 17 February 2016.
^ "Nofal Hammadi of al-Nahetha bloc elected as Governor of Nineveh succeeding al-Nujaifi". Shafaq. 5 October 2015. Archived from the original on 17 February 2016.
^ COSIT (Central Organization for Statistics and Information Technology), Baghdad.
^ NGO Co-ordination Committee.
^ Marco Gombacci. "Iraqi Christians ask EU to support the creation of a Nineveh Plain Province". europeanpost.co.